I love meze dishes, and hummus comes top of the list. So depending on my mood and hunger level, I can rustle up some hummus as a snack, starter or side dish to a main course in no time.
Everyone seems to make hummus in their own way, adding additional ingredients or adjusting the texture to their liking. The traditional, classic hummus is simple, made with chickpeas, lemon, tahini, garlic and olive oil. However, with hummus now becoming more and more popular with people across the globe, you’ll often find interesting ingredients added to enhance its flavour. So if you like variety, you can blend in roasted sweet peppers, fresh coriander, olives, caramelised onion or sun-dried tomato – whatever takes your fancy!
I’ve been told that the tahini should be added and mixed by hand once you’ve blended the chickpeas to a paste. If, like me, you find jars of tahini a bit pricey at Hong Kong supermarkets, you might like to make your own (sesame seeds, oil and salt – look it up!).
Prep time: 15 min
Ingredients:
- 1 tin chickpeas
- 2–3 cloves garlic, crushed (depending on taste preference)
- 5–6 tbsp water
- juice of ½–1 lemon (depending on taste preference)
- 2–3 tsp tahini (depending on taste preference)
- salt, to taste
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- sprinkling of sumac or paprika
Method:
- Drain the chickpeas and place in a bowl with the crushed garlic and half the water (set aside a few chickpeas for garnishing later).
- Using a hand blender, whizz the mixture until it becomes a smooth paste, adding more water if it’s too dry.
- Add the lemon juice, tahini and salt and mix together with a spoon.
- Spoon out onto a plate and drizzle with the olive oil. Garnish with the reserved whole chickpeas and a sprinkling of sumac or paprika.
- Serve with warm pitta bread, tortilla chips or an assortment of raw vegetable sticks.
Recipe notes:
- As mentioned above, you can add a variety of ingredients to the hummus when you blend it together.
- Hummus can be frozen – just defrost thoroughly before eating and drizzle with a bit of olive oil.
- Hummus goes particularly well with kebabs and grilled meat.
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